100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
Some time ago, I posted “The 100 Words Every High School Graduate Should Know” by American Heritage Dictionary. It received lots of traffic. Then I created an online quiz to test yourself. That was great too — hundreds of quiz takers so far.
But American Heritage has also published their “100 Words Every Middle School Graduate Should Know” and I found it just as interesting. So, I’ve published the list also with each word hyper-linked to its definition on the American Heritage site. I’ve got another quiz too. You can test your knowledge of these words by clicking the link below the list.
Please understand that these lists are purely subjective and somewhat arbitrary. I have no idea how they went about nominating and including the words they did. Some, particularly on the high school list, seem unnecessarily obscure and rare. Don’t feel bad if you don’t know some or even many of them. It doesn’t really mean anything. It’s just a fun way to see what we know.
Take the quiz and see how well you do!
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These words are in conjunction with this book. Great resource for middle school teachers. I teach 8th grade LA, and we use it for our Word of the Day.
http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/booksellers/press_release/100middle/
Thanks, Jamie.
I got 98%, but it graded it incorrectly. I checked back on my answers. Don’t know if I got something marked correct, that was really wrong — didn’t check everything. Would be interesting to see how my fourth and fifth graders score.
I’ll double check your score, Carole, if you put your name on it. If not, I’ll just check the answers generally. I’ve not heard of any mistakes prior to now, but it’s certainly possible.
I’d love to hear how your 4th and 5th graders do!
99% — missed “obscure,” because I wasn’t sure if you meant the verb or the adjective. But I knew all the words!
Outstanding, CJ! You are smarter than a middle schooler.
I changed one answer on the “obscure” question, CJ. I understand how it confused you. One extra credit point awarded.
All right, 100%! The only one that really threw me for a loop was “egregious,” which I had never heard before. However, I thought it might be somehow related to “gregarious,” and figured it out from there. Turns out it’s not related except by a mutual Latin root for “flock.” Who knew?
Really? Flock? Interesting.
I got a 90%. I knew most of the words, and that is a good thing, as I am in high school.
Well done, JJ!